Edwards fashions series win for WI A

Kirk Edwards's run-a-ball 104 proved to be a telling blow on India A who went down in the final unofficial ODI by 45 runs to lose the three match 1-2 series to West Indies A.

Set a daunting 313 to win the third game after the visitors drew level with a 55-run win in the second, India A were restricted to 267/8 despite valiant half-centuries by Yuvraj Singh (61) and Baba Aparajith (78).

Robin Uthappa and Aparajith had taken India A off to a solid, if not electrifying start before the latter was needlessly run out for a quickfire 27. Naman Ojha perished without troubling the scorers, paving the way for another Yuvraj Singh special on a pleasant day here.

Yuvraj, who announced his return to form with a sensational hundred in the first game of the series and followed it up with a 40 in the second, was in ominous form, starting his innings with a crisp pull to the fence a reasonable attendance went into a frenzy. The India A captain had walked in with his side in trouble at 46/2 in the 10th over and he realised he had to take the initiative and he did so with panache.

Yuvraj was particularly severe on the spinners and punished anything loose severely. At the other end, Aparajith blossomed as the partnership matured and complemented his skipper, who was clearly in a different zone. Having been dropped on 40 by Permaul Veeraswamy, Yuvraj added insult to injury when he later picked up Veeraswamy for a huge six to bring up his half-century. However, just when it looked like Yuvraj would have the final word, Ashley Nurse struck to see off the stylish left-hander after he had added 112 with Aparajith.

Aparajith tried to anchor the Indian innings but the 19-year-old was beaten by a quicker delivery on middle and leg, which disturbed his stumps. The Indian innings imploded thereafter, except a semblance of a fight from Yusuf Pathan, who flattered to deceive with a six and a four. But with the required rate, climbing steeply, he had to take his chances and one risk too many proved fatal. India A were also a specialist batsman short after Mandeep Singh was ruled out of the rest of the match, having broken a finger earlier during the West Indian innings.

Earlier, West Indies A were asked to bat by Yuvraj under overcast conditions but his bowlers could not really take advantage of the hovering clouds to extract enough swing and movement.

Edwards, who was dropped on 47 by Mandeep Singh off Yusuf, was well supported first by Jonathan Carter (35) before he shared a brisk 93-run stand with Leon Johnson (54).

Jaydev Unadkat (5/55) ran through the middle order, picking up his maiden fifer in the process, besides preventing the West Indians from finishing with an even more imposing score against some lackadaisical bowling.

West Indies A were off to a good start with Andre Fletcher and skipper Kieran Powell before a double blow by Shabaz Nadeem promised to bring the Indians back into the game. However, sensible batting by Edwards and some power hitting by Johnson ensured that the tourists ended up with enough on the board despite those lethal late strikes by Unadkat.